Alexandr
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men".
Name Census estimates that about 762 living Americans carry the first name Alexandr. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Alexandr today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alexandr births was 1989 (316 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alexandr. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Alexandr with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Alexandr was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
762
~ 1 in 449,809 Americans
Peak year
1989
316 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#677
Tracked since 1987
Census
Alexandr in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,985 people with the first name Alexandr, which placed it at #7,620 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,620
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,985 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alexandr
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alexandr is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alexandr described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alexandr at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 1,801
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 45
- Two or more races1.8% · 35
- Black or African American0.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Alexandr
Alexandr is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 782 total registrations, 481 (61.5%) were male and 301 (38.5%) were female.
Alexandr as a male name
- Ranked #9,910 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (25 births)
Alexandr as a female name
- Ranked #677 in 1989
- 301 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (301 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alexandr leans strongly male. 1,910 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 79 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Alexandr: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alexandr from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 327 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alexandr by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alexandr during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alexandrs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Florida, Washington recorded the most babies named Alexandr, while Washington, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 108 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alexandr
The name Alexandr has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the 4th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "Alexandros," which means "defender of men" or "protector of men." The name was popularized by Alexander the Great, one of the most renowned military leaders and conquerors in history, who lived from 356 BC to 323 BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, the name Alexandr was associated with heroic figures and warriors. It was a name often given to sons born into noble or royal families, as it carried connotations of strength, courage, and leadership. The name's popularity spread throughout the ancient Mediterranean world as the Greek culture and language influenced various regions.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Alexandr can be found in the writings of ancient Greek historians, such as Arrian and Plutarch, who documented the life and conquests of Alexander the Great. The name also appears in various ancient texts and inscriptions from the Hellenistic period, a testament to its widespread use in the ancient world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Alexandr. One of the most famous is Alexander Nevsky (1220-1263), a celebrated Russian prince and military leader who defended his lands against Swedish and German invaders. Another prominent figure is Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), considered the founder of modern Russian literature and one of the greatest poets in the Russian language.
In the realm of science and philosophy, Alexandr Oparin (1894-1980) was a Soviet biochemist and pioneer in the study of the origin of life, while Alexandr Bogdanov (1873-1928) was a Russian philosopher, novelist, and revolutionary. Additionally, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), a Soviet and Russian novelist, is renowned for his literary works that exposed the harsh realities of the Soviet gulag system.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Alexandr, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry associated with this ancient and enduring name.
People
Alexandr + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alexandr as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alexandr: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alexandr?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 762 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alexandr going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 449,809 US residents.
Is Alexandr a common name?
We classify Alexandr as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 782 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alexandr most popular?
The single biggest year for Alexandr was 1989, when 316 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alexandr is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alexandr in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,985 people with the name Alexandr, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,620 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alexandr in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alexandr?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alexandr leans strongly male. 1,910 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 79 female bearers (4.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alexandr?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alexandr is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alexandr most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alexandr in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (1,801 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alexandr in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alexandr a male name?
Yes, 61.5% of people registered as Alexandr in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alexandr still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alexandr in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alexandr can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Alexandr?
See how many Americans are named Alexandr on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.